peterson



2 Sheets- Sheet 1! (No Model.) B PETERSON.

METHOD OP AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING TILES. No 325 009. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. W. PETERSON.

METHOD O'P AND APPARATUS PORSETTING TILES.

No. 325,009. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

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THEMES 5 E5 IW mgmtlNiTnn STATES FATBNT Orf-rica.

B. VALKER PETERSON, OF VHEELING, VFS'I VIRGINIA.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SETTING TILES.

SEECTFTCATON forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,009, dated August 25, 1885.

Application filed l\l'arch 3. (No model.)

T0 all when?, may (Jo/warn:

Beit known that I, B..W.\Lirnn Pn'rnnsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wheeling, in the county of Ohio and State of Vest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Means of Setting Tiles for Architectural Purposes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full7 clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure lis a plan view of a piece of tiling of a character which will permit the use of continuous cleats, and Figs. 2 and 3 are end views of the same, illustrating the method of setting and securing the tile. Fig. 4 isa plan view of a mosaic of different pattern where individual cleats are required. Figs. 5, 6, 7, S, 9, and l0 are enlarged details illustrating the manner of setting the tile. Figs. 11 and 12 are transverse sections showing modified forms of cleats. Figs. 13, la, and 15 show equivalent constructions wherein a dovetail projection on the back of the tile engages in an elastic gutter secured to the foundation.

Like letters refer to like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to tilefastenings and the manner of setting tile, and, while generally applicable in setting tile in any position, is more especially useful in and adapted to iioors, walls, ceilings, and places where decorative tile is set in mosaics or patterns.

rlhe main feature of the invention consists in the employment of an elastic or spring cleat of a tongue or groove shape elastically or adjust-ably fitting into a corresponding groove or tongue in the back of a tile, so that a secret fastening is obtained which permits the perfect adjustment of the tiles to the required surface and pattern by the use of tcm porary or permanent strips or keys between the back of the tile and the surface to be tiled.

The second feature consists in permanently fixing or locking the tile in its proper position tothe cleat by filling the intervening space between the tongue or groove shaped cleat and the corresponding groove or tongue in the back of the tile with some quick-setting cement, making the tongue-andgroove union between the tile and the cleat solid, rigid, and fixed.

There are also minor features of more or less importance, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now proceed to describe specifically the best method known tome of carrying out my invention, so as to indicate to others skilled in the art the principles involved and enable them to apply the same.

The tiles are to be provided on their back with a dovetailed recess or slot, a, or a projection or tongue, d a a, Figs. V13, 14, and 15, adapted to receive a cleat for securing the tile. rlhe cleat employed, which is indicated at b, should be of an elastic or yielding character, so as to be compressible or adjustable, and thus enable the adjustment of the tiles in relation to each other, for which purpose Iprefer to use sheet metal, bending the same to a guttered form of similar cross-section to the groove or recess a of the tile.

If the tile-pattern to be set is of a character to permit it, as shown in Fig. l, long cleats may be arranged parallel and at suitable intervals, being secured by suitable nails or screws to the floor, wall, ceiling, or other support.

there the pattern to be set-as, for instance, what is shown in Fig. ltwill not permit of the use of long cleats supporting several tiles, then individual cleats corresponding to single tile are employed and are secured by a single nail or screw, c, which will permit of the cleat and tile being turned in any desired direction during the adjustment thereof in arranging the pattern.

The nail or screw holes in the cleats b for the passage of the screw or nail c should be sufficiently larger than the nail or screw employed to allow for expansion or contraction, and also for the free movement of the individual cleats, when such are used, but care should be had not to make them of such size that the head of the nail or screw will pull through.

The spring or elastic cleats b having been properly secured to the floor, wall, or ceiling, as before set forth, the tiles are slipped on the same and moved into position to form the pattern, or so much thereof as can conveniently be set at the same time. Strips of wood l are placed between the tiles and the floor, ceiling, wall, or other support, at the joints of the tiles, as indicated in the drawings, and serve IOO to press or wedge the innei` part of the jaws or sides of the grooves a of the tiles firmly against the outer sides of the spring-cleats b. Owing to the compressible character of the cleats, they can be drawn down toward the outlet ofthe groove more or less until the faces of the tiles conform and a perfectv adjustment of the pattern, with smooth uniformjoints, is obtained. This can be ascertained by a smooth plane or a straightedge temporarily placed on the outside of' the face of the tiles, thereby preventing any offsets in the joints or irregularity of the finished surface. When this is accomplished, and while the tiles are keyed in position by the strips d, the gutter or space e in the cleat and tile is filled with plaster-of-paris or other semi-liquid quicksetting hydraulic cement, which may be poured down or forced in by a trowel or other suitable instrument. When this filling has set, firmly fixing the tiles and spring-cleats, so that no change of position can take place, the wooden strips are withdrawn and the whole space between the back of the tiles and the walls, fioor, ceiling, or other background is filled in with hydraulic cement, as shown at f, Fig. 10.

As hereinbefore specified, the cleats b may belong strips holding many tiles, and attached by a number of nails or screws, or the cleats may be short individual cleats held by a sin gle nail or screw, so as to revolve thereon. Furthermore, the nail or screw hole in the individual cleat may be an elongated slot, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, to permit the lateral or longitudinal movement of the cleat and tile,where such movement becomes necessary in tting individual tiles into patterns. As to the recess or groove in the back of' the tile, it may extend in any direction, and may,

if desired, be formed in the tile or by parallel projections on the tile, all of which must necessarily be left to the skill and judgment of the architect or mechanic.

Among the advantages of my invention are, first, the neat and secure manner by which tiling can be set in walls or ceilings, as well as in floors, for ornamental purposes; secondly, the ability to preserve the uniformity of design, aswell as to set the most intricate designs; and, thirdly, the great saving of' labor and time, as well as the ability to obtain satisfactory results with unskilled labor.

I am aware that grooved strips or battens have been let into kerfs on the under side of border-strips for marquetry in such manner that the hollow of the strip or batteri was filled by the intervening wood of the block or border, said strips or battons serving to secure the block or border-strip, and do not herein claim the same, inasmuch as such a construction is in effect but the 'ordinary dovetailed joint devoid ofthe elasticity and adjustability which characterize my devices.

Having thus set forth the nature and advantages of my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a tile having a cleat recess or projection on its back, of an elastic or spring cleat of a corresponding form to the recess groove or projection in the back of the tile for holding the tile, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, with a tile having a cleat recess, groove, or projection, of a guttered cleat of a corresponding form to the recess groove or projection in the back of the tile for holding the tile, a filling of plaster-of-Y paris or a qnicksetting hydraulic cement making the tongue-and-groove union between the tile and the cleat solid, rigid, and fixed, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination, with a tile having a cleat recess, groove, or projection, of a guttered cleat of a corresponding form to the recess, groove, or projection in the back of the tile for holding the tile, a quicksetting hydraulic-cement groove-filling making the tongue-and-groove union between the tile and the cleat solid, rigid, and fixed, and a cement backing between the back of the tile and the foundation, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4L. ,lhe combination of two or more tiles, each having cleat groove or projection, and two or more spring-cleats of corresponding form, two or more quick-setting cement groovefillings making the tongueand-groove union between the tiles and the cleats solid, rigid, and fixed relatively to each other and thesurface to be tiled, and acement backingbetween the tiles and the surface to be tiled, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this V23d day of February, 1885.

B. WALKER PETERSON.

Vitnesses:

J P. NORTON, CHAs. P. HAMILTON.

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